Nov 1 (TN) Mr.Rauff Hakeem, Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Sunday said in Trincomalee that SLMC is for "non-contiguous autonomy" for Muslim territory in the northeast province, which recognizes Muslims right to self-determination. more..

Nov 1 (AP) About 200 people on Monday marched along the streets in this northern Tamil heartland to protest the alleged attempted rape of a girl by a soldier and the subsequent killing of one person by gunfire. more..

Nov 1 (BBC) The number of political killings in Sri Lanka this year is nearing 200, international ceasefire monitors say. The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission urged the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to work together to end the cycle of violence. more..

Nov 1 (AFP) More than 190 people have died in political killings in Sri Lanka this year despite a ceasefire between troops and Tamil rebels, Scandinavian monitors said as Colombo called for an urgent review of the truce. more..

Nov 1 (AN) The 20-year civil war in Sri Lanka displaced more than 800,000 people, equal to the number affected by the December 2004 tsunami. The conflict-displaced have received subsistence assistance, but far less than what they require to re-establish their lives. more..

Nov 1 (CI) Sri Lanka will not make a request to the Indian cricket authorities for a change of Test venue following Saturday's bomb blasts in New Delhi which left around 60 dead and several more wounded. more..

Nov 1 (LT) Mr.Wimal Weerawansa, Information Secretary of the JVP has challenged Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Opposition Leader and presidential candidate of the UNP to come for a debate on who was responsible for the murders of Lieut. Col. Meedin and the members of intelligence unit at Millennium City. more..

Nov 1 (AT) Ayurvedic Doctor Victor Hettigoda is a self-made business man from down south Matara. Sri Lanka’s most prominent balm producer is also known as “Siddhalepa Vedamahathaya” named after his product brand Siddhalepa. Hettigoda, 68 started his ayurvedic balm business way back in the 70s with the help of a close relative. more..

Nov 1 (AT) The former American Ambassador to Sri Lanka and currently Director of the South Asia Program in the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, Teresita Schaffer referring to her interview given to Asian Tribune on October 9 more..

Nov 1 (SLA) THE REMAINS of Police Constable (PC) G.R.LALITH BANDARA (RPC 38155) who was killed in the LTTE hand grenade attack in JAFFNA was air lifted to COLOMBO this morning (01 November 2005) by an Sri Lanka Air Force aircraft. more..

Nov 1 (SLA) THE POLICE in TALAIMANNAR arrested 2000 non-electronic detonator sticks packed in 20 boxes from a bus scheduled to leave for MANNAR. This stock of lethal cargo that could have been used for suspected criminal acts were of Indian origin. more..

Nov 1 (SLA) TAMIL TIGERS hiding in un-cleared areas of VILGAMVEHERA fired six T-56 rounds of ammunition over the town sector Army camp in the general area of VILGAMVEHERA, TRINCOMALEE on Monday (31) evening around 5.10 p.m. However, LTTE firing did not cause any damage or injuries. more..

Nov 1 (SLA) TWO T-56 WEAPONS, one 09 mm pistol, four hand grenades, three T-56 magazines with sixty rounds of 7.62 x 39 mm rounds and one pistol magazine with 05 x 9 mm rounds were recovered from two areas in KARUVAPANKERNI and PANICHCHIADY in BATTICALOA after information was received by the Police and the troops on Monday (31). more..

Nov 1 (LM) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has written to UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya that she had requested the Finance Minister to study the views forwarded by the UNP in regard to presenting the Budget on November 8. more..

Nov 1 (LM) Tamil and Muslim parties representing Parliament yesterday condemned the government's decision to present the budget before the Presidential polls, citing it as an undemocratic act to hoodwink the voters. The government has already decided to present the budget in Parliament on November 8, and it will be taken up for debate on November 22. more..

Nov 1 (LM) Police arrested an underworld figure Chamila Roshan alias Chumley from a house at Kadawatha in connection with the killing of Military Intelligence officer Lt. Col. Meedin. According to police officials Chamila was believed to have enticed Colonel Meedin out of his Kiribathgoda house before setting him up for the killing by Ice Manju, more..

Nov 1 (CT) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse declared open the New enterprise development Center in Kandy on Monday. It will provide services to entrepreneurs from the Institutions under the Ministry of Advanced Technology & National Enterprise Development. more..

Nov 1 (CT) Cattle and buffalo farming once a thriving and popular business in the Hambantota district especially by curd manufacturers is now facing ruin. Officers in livestock and agricultural fields say that already many cattle farmers have decided to leave the industry for good. more..

Nov 1 (LT) Two media men of ‘Sunday Leader’ posed as CID officers had questioned the occupants of the house on his assassination. Suspecting their identity, the occupants of the house have informed the Police over the phone this morning and they have been arrested. more..

Nov 1 (LT) Six thugs linked to the UNP have assaulted a prime activist of JVP at Medirigiriya, Polonnaruwa on the 30th instant. They have wrecked his right hand and looted Rs 10,000 in his possession. He has been assaulted with clubs damaging his face when he was walking along the road. more..

Nov 1 (AT) Presenting the current situation of the LTTE S. Nagarajah wrote in the latest (October) issue of Uthayam, an Australian-based community newspaper: "Up until the Cease-fore Agreement (signed on February 22, 2002) Col. Karuna (the breakaway group from the LTTE) had recruited 6,000 cadres. more..

Nov 1 (UNP) Southern Province MP Mahinda Wijesekera said yesterday at a press conference that generations of Rajapaksas have done nothing for the development of Hambantota – one of the most backward areas in the country. more..

Nov 1 (UNP) UNP Leader and Presidential candidate Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe last week said that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who was supportive of a Federal solution to the ethnic problem in 2003 had now changed his position due to JVP pressure. more..

Nov 1 (TP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday received Ali bin Hamad Mubarak Al-Merri who handed her his credentials as Qatar’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Sri Lanka. The Qatari ambassador conveyed greetings of the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani more..

Nov 1 (GT) The UPFA on Sunday signed an agreement with the Sri Lanka Muslim National Alliance (SLMNA) to work together for Premier Mahinda Rajapakse’s victory at the presidential elections. The agreement was signed by SLMNA leader Nazeer Ahamad and UPFA general secretary Susil Premajayantha. more..

Nov 1 (GT) “Sri Lanka needs a strategy to improve the export sector to revive the country’s economy. The export sector should be in the centre of the economic development to have better results,” World Bank country director Peter Harrold said. more..

Nov 1 (CI) There was a time in the mid-nineties when Sri Lanka were the masters of the run-chase, and no total, especially on subcontinental featherbeds, was beyond them. The overwhelming blaze at the start would be followed by judicious strike rotation. more..

Nov 1 (PIS) Investigations into the murder of Army Intelligence Officer Lt. Col. Tuan Rizvi Meedin have revealed that the LTTE was behind it, police say. They say that the killing had been planned many years ago and the LTTE had given the contract to Chumley, a Sinhalese, who had been living in Trincomalee, where the officer had got to know him. more..

Nov 1 (SAMN) Prime Minister and Presidential Candidate Mahinda Rajapakse said in Kandy that he would definitely amend the Ceasefire Agreement with his becoming President. He said that the UNP is creating fear among the Tamil population through television that he is a war-monger, and should not be elected the President of the country. more..

Nov 1 (SAMN) UNP Presidential Candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday pledged to set up a Ranaviru Ministry. The Ministry will address the problems faced by the families of security personnel who sacrificed their lives for the country and those disabled. more..

Nov 1 (SAMN) Foreign Minsiter Anura Bandaranaike speaking at a presidential felicitation ceremony held at Bibile said that the army could never be disbanded and that the President will never retire from politcs. The meeting was organized by Uva Chief Minister Gamini Vijith Wijayamuni Soysa. more..

Nov 1 (LNP) The UNP`s presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe said that under the sixth amendment to the Constitution, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakshe has taken an oath not to support, directly or indirectly, the formation of a separate state within the terrain of Sri Lanka. more..

Nov 1 (LNP) The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said yesterday that the presentation of the Budget immediately prior to the Presidential Elections was inappropriate. 'Presidential Candidates, who prepared their manifestos independent of the Government Budgetary process, would require maneuverability for their implementation. more..

Nov 1 (DN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga said in Bibile on Sunday that it is a great victory that the UNP which once opposed the solution proposed by her to the ethnic question has now accepted that policy on this vital issue. more..

Nov 1 (Reuters) A breakaway rebel group in Sri Lanka could be a cause for concern in this month's presidential election, and any malpractice may prove decisive, the chief EU election monitor said on Tuesday. more..

Nov 1 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's main opposition says it may be forced to boycott next week's parliamentary presentation of the government budget for 2006. The United National Party (UNP) spokesman Tissa Attanayake told reporters here Tuesday that the party would soon make a decision. more..

Nov 1 (LeN) The Norochcholai Coal Power Project has hit the Presidential campaign. PM Mahinda Rajapaksa has very clearly said he would abide by the Bishop's decision, obviously in an attempt to woe those voters. The Cilaw Bishop is still opposing the Norochcholai Coal Power Project, and is the sole reason for not having the project implemented. more..

Nov 1 (LeN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has informed Deputy UNP leader Karu Jayasuriya, that she has requested the Finance and Planning Minister to study submissions made by him against the presentation of the budget before the November 17 presidential poll. more..

Nov 1 (TN) Venerable Uduwae Dhammaloka Thera, dissident parliamentarian of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) said he will begin his election campaign in support of Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, presidential candidate of the UNP, Tuesday from Navagamuwa Raja Maha Vihare. more..

Nov 1 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is due to end her presidency in mid-December, said Monday she has changed Sri Lanka's international image during her two terms. Kumaratunga said when she was elected president in 1994, Sri Lanka's international image had taken a battering due to the armed conflict with the Tamil Tigers and a rebellion launched by the leftist extremists. more..

Nov 1 (Gulf) Sri Lanka's ruling party and the main Opposition yesterday exchanged criticism blaming each other for the slaying of a top military intelligence officer as police continued their investigations after arresting four suspects. more..

Nov 1 (AP) A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel hurled a grenade onto a police truck in northern Sri Lanka, killing one officer and wounding three others. Police constable Lalith Bandara died about an hour after he was admitted to hospital following the attack Monday evening in Jaffna, more..

Nov 1 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando has instructed all Police stations to set up roadblocks in their areas in Colombo to ensure free and fair elections during the Presidential elections, Daily News reported Tuesday. more..

Nov 2 (Xinhua) The fourth World Buddhist Summit opened in Thailand on Tuesday when leaders of the two sects from all over the world meet and exchange views and opinions, seeking cooperation and overcoming differences, with an aim to bringing about prosperity and security for Buddhism. more..

Nov 2 (BB) Broadcast Electronics (BE), was among the industry’s foremost authorities to present a technical overview of HD Radio at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on October 25. more..

Nov 2 (RW) The sight of Mohadin Musammil and his team of Red Cross volunteers is a reassuring reminder to the people of Pottuvil in Eastern Sri Lanka that their plight has not been forgotten. Every day the volunteers can be seen, moving from house to house with their buckets and ladders in this tsunami-ravaged region. more..

Nov 2 (AT) K. Rajadurai, the respected principal of Central College Jaffna, was shot dead by the LTTE in front of his pupils on October 12, 2005. Just before his murder Nitharsanam.com – the Norway-based LTTE website – warned that “his corpse would be found soon with a name board round his neck”. more..

Nov 2 (leN) Jailed former Minister S.B.Dissanayake says budgetary proposals submitted through the appropriation bill has not allocated any funds to provide relief pledged from Mahinda chintana. 'As such those proposals cannot be implemented from the budget. more..

Nov 2 (LeN) The Leader of the House of the Southern Provincial Council, Ajith Rajapasksa of the Freedom Alliance today (1) obtained the membership of the UNP from Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at Sirikotha. more..

Nov 2 (TN) Ms. Ranee Mohamed, a feature editor and Mr. Berty Mendis, a photographer at the English weekly Sunday Leader, were assaulted by a group of men armed with batons and swords Tuesday morning at the residence of the slain senior Intelligence officer, Lt. Col. Tuwan Rizwi Meedin, in Kiribathgoda when they went to obtain interviews from Meedin's family members, more..